26
Pia
Dasia had disappeared once more without a trace, and my hands were tied. She’d become nothing but another number, a statistic in a system that failed time and again.
I told myself it wasn’t my fault—but I also cursed myself for not taking her in without the state’s knowledge. I should have hid her in my own home, consequences be damned. She’d ended up paying the price for my mistake, and I couldn’t forgive myself.
I didn’t hear from Ryker all that day, and he wasn’t at my apartment when I got home, exhausted and still half-sick. He didn’t answer his cell, so I left a message asking him to please call me, before passing out in my bed.
The next morning, disappointed to be waking alone, I turned on the TV while making my coffee, dreading hearing about a young woman’s body being fo
